The NSW coast is in for a ‘right rogering’ should the state government have its way and implement new coastal plans and policies, according to Dr Richard Gates from the Evans Head Residents for Sustainable Development group.
Dr Gates said the new planning instruments would suit big developers and give lots of discretionary legislative ‘wiggle room’ for local and state governments to do as they please with the coast.
‘If this stuff goes through you can expect a bulldozer in your backyard anytime soon and high density development,’ he said.
‘We are on our way to a new Gold Coast. I have already seen plans for major developments which are being held back until the new legislation goes through.’
Consultation on the draft Coastal Management State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) and draft maps of the coastal management areas that make up the coastal zone closes on 20 January 2017 (for more detail see: http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/CoastalReform ).
The community has an opportunity to have its say at: coastal@planning.nsw.gov.au
The new Coastal Management Act 2016, which is contingent on the mapping and other coastal planning instruments, was passed by Parliament on 31 May 2016 and will become operational following consultation on the draft Coastal Management SEPP government sources claim.
The new suite of instruments tears up former NSW Coastal Policy and replaces three State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) with one.
Dr Gates said the problem was that the environmental maps on which the new instruments were based were not complete, do not exist, or are based on material that was defective when it was used back in the 1980s.
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